Reading on the Move
We all know the importance of getting students up and moving around. Six and seven year olds do not want to sit all day. The more active I can keep them, the better our day goes. Since, I am a little obsessed with reading fluency, my mind is constantly thinking of new ways to make it fun for my students. I combined two of my favorite things…reading and exercise…and created Reading on the Move.
We used this for the first time last week, and the students LOVED it! It allowed them to practice their reading and get up and moving. After doing a story together, the students tried their own. I gave each of them dice and a story from my Reading on the Move Simple Stories packet. The students rolled, read the story, and then completed the movement that matched their dice roll.
Now, I will say, if you are adamant about a perfectly quiet classroom, this will not be your favorite activity. It’s noisy. The kids are reading and exercising. It’s what you would expect 🙂
One of the first things they told me was that our P.E. teacher would LOVE this!
In each packet, there are two options to choose from. The first set allows the students to move WHILE reading. (March in place while reading, raise up and down on your toes while reading, etc.) The second option allows the students to move AFTER reading. (Do 5 pushups, Do 10 jumping jacks, etc.) The second option is definitely your better option for those students that may still need to track their print with their finger.
The students draw about the passage when they are finished. This adds a comprehension component to the reading as well.
So far, I have two separate Reading on the Move products available.
I have many more in the works including some for nonsense word fluency, specific phonics skills, and even seasonal packets. You can always find all of my Reading on the Move products at
www.readingonthemove.com
I’d LOVE to see this in action in your classroom. If you use any of my Reading on the Move packets in your classroom and you post it on Instagram, use the hashtag #readingonthemove.
I love this idea!
I love this! I’m writing a paper in one of my educations classes about how you can incorporate movement into elementary classrooms. I may have to share this with my classmates!
Do you have any appropriate for kindergarten and their reading levels?
I have the word lists and the simple sentences, which may work for middle to high kindergarteners.
How do you deal with the emerging readers who would love this, but can’t read the action they’re supposed to do?
We always go over the actions together first.